Descriptive statistics of LENA outcomes.

The home language environment is a critical point of investment in early language skills. However, few studies have quantitatively measured the home language environment of low-socioeconomic-status households in non-western settings. This mixed methods study describes the home language environment and early child language skills among households in a low-socioeconomic-status, peri-urban district of Chengdu, China, and identifies factors influencing parental investment in the home language environment. Audio recordings were collected from 81 peri-urban households with children ages 18–24 months and analysed using the Language Environment Analysis (LENATM) system. The Mandarin version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory was administered to each child’s primary caregiver. The quantitative results revealed large variation in home language environments and child language skills among the sample, with relatively low average scores when compared to other Chinese samples. Qualitative interviews with a subset of 31 caregivers revealed that many caregivers face constraints on their knowledge of interactive parenting, compounded, in some households, by time constraints due to work or household responsibilities. The findings indicate a need for increased sources of credible parenting information for peri-urban caregivers of young children to promote investment in the home language environment.

家庭语言环境是儿童早期语言技能培养的关键投入领域。然而，目前鲜有研究对非西方背景下低社会经济地位家庭的家庭语言环境开展量化测量。本项混合方法研究针对中国成都某近郊低社会经济地位区域的家庭，刻画了其家庭语言环境与幼儿语言技能水平，并剖析了影响父母对家庭语言环境进行投入的各类因素。研究收集了81户育有18至24月龄幼儿的近郊家庭的音频数据，并采用语言环境分析（Language Environment Analysis, LENA™）系统开展分析。向每名幼儿的主要照料者施测了中文版麦克阿瑟-贝茨沟通发展量表（MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory）。量化分析结果显示，本研究样本的家庭语言环境与幼儿语言技能存在显著差异，且相较于其他中国样本，其平均得分相对偏低。对31名照料者开展的质性访谈结果显示，多数照料者在互动式育儿知识方面存在不足，部分家庭还因照料者需兼顾工作与家务而进一步加剧了时间紧张的问题。本研究结果表明，需为近郊幼儿的主要照料者提供更多可靠的育儿信息资源，以推动其对家庭语言环境的投入。